this post on instagram @za_ispharazi 

Hello everyone, happy new year!
Zain and Zahra here :)
We are writing from below the equator in Iquitos, Peru. We are at a beautiful center called Oni Shobo, working as employees for a few months. 

We are making some changes in how we will be sending updates to people, as the internet will be especially slow where we are. Also we are clearing our old email-update list and starting a fresh cycle of communication where we will mainly focus on updating our website. You can find the same updates that we used to send by email on  www.weavingthevine.com 
Entries about our trips will be on the “JOURNAL” section of the website.

Also you are welcome to come visit Oni Shobo, here in Peru. Send us an email to weavingthevine@gmail.com and we will get back to you soon. As we will be here for a few months, you have plenty of time to plan a trip while we will still be here. This center has turned out to be one of the most peaceful and most beautiful places we have visited.Vera and Coco have an excellent sense of how to maximize the healing process with the necessary comforts of running water, toilets, showers and sinks in each tambo. What a relief that was! Check out http://onishobo.com/english 
They welcome “drop ins” so to speak, by not requiring you to commit to set retreat dates. 

The jungle is a beautiful and mysterious place which is always undergoing change. Likewise this center, which is based deep in the jungle, is always going through changes. There may not always be the possibility for visits based on the number of people already here (which we try to keep very small) and or the current status of whether the curendero will be present here on the property or not. But usually it all works out and you find all you were looking for, and then some!

We will try to post some pictures on the website soon. Wishing you all the best this 2017! 

With love always,
Zain and Zahra 
********************************
Hello everyone!
Greeting from Iquitos, Peru!
We are doing well, adjusting to the heat. The retreat center is even more beautiful in person! They have done such great work here, it is nicer than any other center we’ve been to. 
It is still rustic and very jungly, but also they have installed a water system with showers toilets and sinks in each tambo.

They have given us both a private space to sleep, study, and bathe. We will attach some pictures. 
We have begun cleansing ourselves out and working with guests as well; we are facilitators, companions and organizers when Vera and Coco are away. 

We will also be applying different medicines, we will tell you more when we actually begin doing this. 
We feel like we are being blessed after some difficult lessons last year. All our prayers have been answered, even if it all ends tomorrow, we would still feel content and grateful for our time here!

So in terms of communication, we will not be able to connect too often. We do have a usb connection device that works when the weather is clear and when Coco actually brings it. 

So yeah, our time here in the jungle has turned out to be all we've
asked for...really it is surreal. The curandero Mariano Arevalo
Sanchez or his Murui tribal name is Sofirama Medcine (medseen)
Nungmele, came with us to the center on the same day and has become
our mentor, as we are the team of 3 that take care of the guests.
Twice a week we sit with him in Ayahuasca ceremony and the rest of the
days we make medicines with him, sit in Cocayar story time/educational
oral tradition meetings where he tells us legends, life lessons, the
different animal and plant medicines, jokes and constantly reminding
us that life is good, to stay healthy and that we all are one and come
from one source.

We sit in a circle as he passes around pulverized Coca leaves mixed
with ashes of the Setico leaf and tobacco (a liquid solution as well
as mapacho). Sofirama is turning 77 this March, he is a tiny 4.5 ft
tall man with few teeth, but the largest smile, a sharp mind and a
strong body. He says he is only living now to share the knowledge of
the Murui people (also known as Witoto) and is so overjoyed that Zahra
and I are so keen about learning these ancient ways.

Definitely a return to magic this year.

Still the mosquitos can be overbearing and the heat draining, but it
is the rainy season now so we have gotten a couple of cool spells
lately. This monday we will be starting an 8 day intensive dieta with
Chiric Sanango, a powerful teacher plant that people also use for
treating rheumatoid arthritis. We've had two clients for the past
week, Nina and Bob, from Sweden and Britain, and we've taken up the
role as the Kambo applicators here. The Kambo mambo called, and we
stepped up. The first time I applied it to Zahra and myself, Coco
brought the new guests from Iquitos as I was in the middle of my purge
(awkward first meeting for those unexposed to purging...)...but within
the next ten minutes I began applying Kambo to 4 people (including
Coco)....man was it an initiation. I was sweating, trying to balance
everyone's perceptions, my shaky hand and harden up in the moment no
matter how much I didn't like inflicting pain to people. Since then I
have applied it many times and I find my hand has become steady and
that people found that I have a very gentle touch, literally only
removing the first layer of skin.

Apparently the giant tree frog is in our part of the jungle, so
Sofirama, Zahra and I will go on a night time expedition to find it
one of these days!

In another email I will try to send some pictures.

So while I have connection I'll just send this message out.
Hope it was all coherent, I'm not doing spell check.

In this most recent post on our live, electronic resume of sorts, we are happy to inform you that we are off to Peru on January 6, 2017!

We have been offered an opportunity to work at the Amazon Green Ecolodge OniShobo retreat center in Iquitos, Peru (our first time in this “most popular destination” of the trinity of the famous jungle cities of Peru: Iquitos, Pucallpa and Tarapoto). There we will be serving as retreat facilitators, assistants during ceremony, post ceremony integration guides, and translators.



Besides our work, as always we will be students: observing, listening, and learning.

So now you know where to find us next year ;)

                          Z & Z

​Dear friends and family, 

    Sitting amongst the pines, cedars, and madrone of Northern California on this cool September day, brought me an unmistakeable sense of a shift in the winds and the inspiration to write this letter. 
    Two full months have past since Zahra and I arrived in sunny, blue-skied California; we are enjoying the stark contrast of this parched environment from the humidity of Tarapoto, Peru. Once we arrived, we immediately got to work at our friend’s farming project, a kindred spirit whom we met at Takiwasi earlier this year. Though we had an overarching focus, many of the details of ‘how, when, and where’ were a mystery to us when we were packing up our items, letting go of our little home, and saying goodbye to friends and family at the outset of 2016. Now as this year is moving towards its end phase, I feel that a larger cycle that began in 2012 is also winding down. The mysterious currents of the cosmos can only be tasted, a flavor sensed and adapted to accordingly.
    For Zahra and I, the calling is to consciously take on the task of integrating all that we have learned into the context of the society in which we were born. During the summer of 2013, when I was in the amazon, in the middle of a period of 20 days of isolation and 35 days of fasting, I had a vision of holding an Ayahuasca ceremony for my grandmother. In November 2015, after holding ceremonies for nearly a year, my grandmother joined us in a small family circle and my vision was fulfilled. After this event, there was a distinct shift in my gut feeling and though Zahra and I set out on the journey of holding ceremony without attachment as to how long we would continue to do so, in our hearts arose a tender sadness of parting, that soon became a beacon of courage to simply let go and allow in what needed to come into our lives next.
     The trip to Takiwasi this year fortified our intuitions that now is the time to explore who we have become after four years of initiation in the ways of curanderismo and how to ceremonially live life. 
The parallels between ceremony and life are infinite, and that is because ceremony can be a contained space of tutelage for life. For us there are now some exams to take. The mission is to find a way to weave the vine into the very fabric of society. As much as the hype will continue to increase into an era of open flirtation with mind expanding techniques- the refined, sacred, subtle, and professional approach to these techniques will also thrive. At it’s core our path is still the same but outwardly its appearance is transforming rapidly. And yet, without a doubt in my heart, I patiently look forward to the time when the path will take on a familiar manifestation as it did when I sat behind the alter of medicine work.
    Each person whom we’ve had an exchange with during this auspicious cycle has been a light along the way. We’ve all shared something special within these sacred meetings thus far; so much so that we cannot fathom the reasons, or rather, the music behind it all. The ceremonies Zahra and I held, the other ceremonies we’ve sat in, the synchronistic meetings, the new relationships and the transformation of old relationships, all of it, has been a gift and there is much to receive yet ahead.

"Look beyond what is or could be said and thought with meaning. Look to aesthetics, discover genuineness, adequacy and wholeness; these offer life and growth. Will it be mostly clear sailing- probably not; but storms do not take soundness from pure intentions." ​

Zain & Zahra

​"revalue the human and natural resources of Amazonian traditional medicine."After a long interview process through letters and official documents, we are confirmed to partake in DIETA (click to read more). After this we are free to explore the Amazon and its mysteries, with our intuition and prior 3 years of experience guiding us, we feel confident that we will be safe and that we will find the perfect circumstances to support our learning process.  
​
In related news:
We are still working on our album and are aiming to release it within this blessed month of December. 
This sharing of our hearts through music has taken on a new significance as we find ourselves growing nostalgic of even the most routine aspects of our day, with the knowledge that life will soon be looking very different. The spirit of a farewell embeds itself in the music as we record, motivating us to give our best efforts to the process. 

The song "We are One" will not be on our upcoming album, but can be listened to and downloaded for free on soundcloud. Lastly we have compiled videos of memories from our experiences from the past few years and though it is mainly a farewell to our family here in New York, we'd like to share it with everyone who has had an exchange with us in one way or the other. 

Love,
Zain and Zahra

The picture above was taken on a wintery autumn morning. I greeted a tree that I sit across from at work with sacred tobacco smoke. As I did so, the rays of the sun and rainbow colors were revealed in the smoke: A reminder of the ever present unseen layers of beauty that are revealed simply with a shift in perspective.

In this moment of grace a fresh thought came with a high degree of clarity and cohesion. 
To these moments, I pay extra attention and board the train of thought willingly.
It went something like this:

Being "Indian," or rather, Native or Indigenous is a state of consciousness.
For example Inca, Maya, Apache, Lakota, and even current isolated tribes around the world are literally occupying a stream, a current of awareness in the ocean of consciousness. Beyond birth, each individual is raised with certain norms and values which direct their lives with a particular outlook. 

Building on this insight, all the various forms of the prophecy of a Global Tribe is true because slowly the masses of a once misdirected and lost culture of "modern-Western-civilization" are slowly learning to direct their consciousness towards an all inclusive global awareness. Generation after generation we are fully realizing our Global Citizenry: 

Humans are learning the dance of contradictions, or seeming opposites. 
Soon it may be the case that our current group of generations will have a fitting title, or name that will evoke a sense of deep time and awe in the hearts of our children's children's children. For what is a name other than a label on a specific tuning of the unseen strings that vibrate our reality into being? 
Much like the string on a guitar we label with an arbitrary letter for organization's sake, throughout the ages language and labeling has been used to identify and establish identification with feelings, thoughts, states of awareness...
Labels are reference points to consciousness- a piece of art, music, a language, or even a stone can be assigned as a reminder to a particular vibration.

The idea of "Native American" for most people around the world has become a romantic "Cowboys and Indians" notion that is restricting their scope of thinking, of feeling and knowing. We are not facing galactic matters just yet, we're still figuring out basics like how to educate our children and take care of our health and this is why we are all in dire need of the wisdom of the Earth which is still very real and fresh in many tribes like the Kaxinawa Huni Kun, Yawanawa, Kampa, Sentinelese, Kokiri, and many others around the world. It is arrogant and ignorant to think of our civilization, lifestyles and culture as the only one worth noting. It is not true that Native Wisdom is a thing of the past. 

There is medicine out there.

There is wisdom out there.

And vibrations that await to be heard and felt.

Don't doubt all tribal dances, face paint and seemingly "primitive festivities" that we all too often judge as "for show" and "attention." There is significance in what we, at face value, can easily judge as nonsense. There are states of being that take experience to know.
They do not fit into intellectual schemata and wordy explanations. 

There is fear in modern people that "others" not part of the societal structures of western civilization are dangerous because we think they don't have the same conscience, the same values, and the same folkways, mores and taboos. We do not want to be misled, made fools of and sent on a wild goose chase. These fears all come from an attitude of lack. Know yourself, take pride in your global heritage, in your far-reaching awareness, in your multi-ethnic background, your versatility and yes even your possible misfortunes of growing up in dysfunctional family structures, which encoded you with the experiential knowledge of what needs to be healed in humanity's collective psyche...
​
There is much we are to learn, as well as teach. No one has all the answers; we are all co-creating a new existence for humanity. There are even decedents of mutilated tribes who are rediscovering their roots and reconnecting to old customs with a new twist. We are blessed with traditions that have been passed down for generations, and most importantly we are also staying true to the guidance in the NOW.
Rituals are meant to serve us, to make us present and aligned. When we begin serving them instead we literally shut the gates on Grace coming to kiss our hearts. We dance upon the surface of rituals and they provide us with a platform to take-off of into freeform creativity with integrity and with an aim towards higher and higher vibration. 

It is about heart, not about blood.
We are all natives to this Earth.
Natives are taught by nature, the stars, the universe, the mystery...
We have been, we are and will be, living and learning into infinity. 

This poem was written on 9/5/13 at 8:47am
just after Zain drank his last dose of a tree medicine he was dieting with at El Santuario Huistin.
In dieta one eats neutral foods like potatoes, plantains, white fish and rice without any salt, oil, or seasoning in general. 
The body becomes receptive and attuned to the subtle plant medicines like Aho Sacha. 
The dieter is in meditation with the plant teacher and learns about Nature through this exchange. 
Click on an image below to expand the gallery, use arrows keys to browse:

Shamoriri...
My vision is to complete this one day as an endless loop of of clouds, snake and curandero coming out of each other. 
-Zain

Ayahuasca doesn’t tell a person what to do or what is necessarily better or worse for them- they decide that. This medicine can be approached as a powerful guide that lays out all the options and has one viscerally experience- activating the limbic system -what each choice would entail. The light and dark, positive and negative, Yin and Yang of both sides is felt. It is then up to the individual to move forward and stick with what is the healthiest choice, based on their capacity to discern what that is, at that moment in time. This step in a healthy direction will further the person’s evolution and they will gain an ever greater capacity to discern goodness, beauty and truth. 

Alexander Ward interviews Zain in 2012
http://www.wardyworks.co.uk